


Ley Line

by joking_motive



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: ARE YOU A SLUT FOR FANTASY AU'S? I SURE AM, Alternate Universe - Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-10 19:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joking_motive/pseuds/joking_motive
Summary: Fantasy AU, inspired by Himiko's Love Hotel (where she has Shuuichi has her wolf familiar). There will probably be a plot.





	1. Chapter 1

It was customary of mages to take familiars. Sure, one could argue the common familiar was a black cat, but it was not uncommon for the animal of choice to end up being something completely different. Yes, Himiko had had her eye on this wolf for what felt like months now, and he just _felt_ like the one (she couldn’t quite describe the exact emotion or feeling, it was more like a sixth sense). The black wolf was a loner from what she could tell. It was also very cautious, often preferring to roam the deeper parts of the forest where fewer animals seemed to be. She’d often attempted to follow it whenever it fled from her line of sight, though this would result in her getting fatigued sooner than expected.

This time, though, the wolf approached her. It knew full-well she was there, despite her best attempt to stay relatively hidden crouched in some of the brush. It padded towards her, keeping its head low and ears tucked back, but yellow eyes meeting hers. She opened her hand so her palm faced down towards the dirt. _The first part of a pact with a familiar_ , the words from the book she’d looked over and over resounded in her head, _is to first reach out to the familiar of choice._ A downwards-facing palm was detailed to be less intimidating than an upwards-facing one, and the wolf was already somewhat timid. The last thing she wanted to do was scare it off.

The wolf had stopped plodding towards her and stared at her, as if it was trying to get an idea as to what she was trying to do.

“I, uh, don’t wanna hurt you…” Himiko shuffled a bit, but kept her hand outstretched. The wolf’s tail wagged at the tip. Was that a bad thing? Dogs’ tails wagged when they were happy, but that was their entire tails. And wolves weren’t exactly dogs. Maybe she should’ve read up on wolf behavior while she was at the library. _Then again, I already had trouble staying awake trying to read that book about making pacts in the first place,_ she thought with a grimace.

Her potential familiar then continued on its way to her, with its ears pricked up this time. It began to sniff her hand, then licked her fingers.

“Ah, hey!” Startled by just how warm the wolf’s tongue was, she jerked her hand back purely out of reaction. Shoot, she might’ve blown it! Surely the wolf would dart now…!

But it didn’t. It simply stared at her and panted, almost as if it was laughing at her for her childish reaction. Well, that had gone better than expected. The next step was…

Oh, the part with the actual magic. She was saving up mana for this.

“Sorry, I gotta touch you for this part.” The mage reached her hand out again, slower this time, and pressed her pointer and middle fingers against the wolf’s muzzle. She felt it duck its head a little bit, before readjusting. At this point, the ritual called for a spell with an incantation. Muttering the words, Himiko noticed a bright light appeared on the tips of her fingers, as well as on the spot where she had touched the wolf.

“Whoa.” Himiko said with a gasp. She’d never done high-level magic like this before. This was magic far above the normal kind of almost-gimmicky tricks she had done before, and it was not only beautiful, but also, incredibly draining.

The light escaped upwards into the expansive blue sky above, then came down as a glimmering bright scarlet snow.

“That’s… _my_ magic?” She tried to catch some of the “snow” that had fallen, only to realize it was simply just light that resembled the substance. “I didn’t think I could… I never _dreamed_ I could--”

A nose prodding into her side distracted her. Ah, right, her new familiar. The wolf whined and kept prodding her even after it gained her attention. It definitely wanted something, but what could it want?

“It appears I’ll have to give you a human form soon,” Himiko sighed as she straightened her back, not bothering to stress herself anymore with trying to comprehend wolf whines. “But for right now, I’m pooped. C’mon wolfy, let’s go to my house.”

* * *

Himiko could hardly remember anything after collapsing on her bed. She could recall the wolf following her and hearing its claws click against the wooden floor as it followed her, but not much else past that point.

She didn’t recall, however, tucking herself into the bed. When she woke up under the covers, she was slightly confused. Her hat, her proof that she was a witch, was missing as well (it had been on her person when she flopped onto her bed). While she would be incredibly distraught if she had actually lost it, she decided it was probably better to check on her new familiar. Hopefully he was adjusting alright…

“Oh, good morning.”  
“GAHH!?”

“UUWEH!?” Himiko was certain she jumped at least two feet in the air out of pure shock. It seems the person who addressed her had done about the same, though. To her left when she exited her room was a boy, a bit taller than her, with dark, short hair and yellow eyes. He was holding something in his left hand that he had dropped when they both scared each other.

“A-Are you--”

“T-The wolf from the other day? Yes.” That had thankfully been cleared up rather quickly.

“How did you become human? I didn’t even cast a spell…”

“I was actually going to ask you that myself.” He bent over to pick up whatever it was he dropped, and put it in his breastpocket. “By the way, I dressed myself in some of the things in the closet down the hall. I figured you wouldn’t want me walking around here in the nude.”

“Ah, yeah, that… works.” The wolf- no, _boy_ \- had managed to find some baggy pants, boots, and a shirt (and presumably some underwear) in a closet Himiko didn’t use anymore. It was full of several clothing items she had acquired purely for the sake of having, but not for wearing herself. In all honestly, it was nice that now those clothes would be doing more than just collecting dust.

“I, er, really do apologize about startling you earlier.” He seemed suddenly to recall something, gestured for her to wait, and walked into the more poorly-lit portion of the small house. When he came back, he was carrying Himiko’s hat. “Here. There was a little grime on it, so I thought I could clean it as thanks.”

“My hat!” The mage held her hands out to receive her beloved and iconic article of clothing from the wolf boy. “Thank you very much, wolfy. You’re already becoming a familiar fit enough to help me grace these lands with benevolent magecraft, heh.”

“Wolfy?” Upon hearing the nickname, the boy awkwardly itched his face with his pointer finger. “I mean, if you want to call me that…”  
“Nonsense. I will think of a name fitting enough for a familiar such as you. ‘Wolfy’ was a simple, one-time nickname.” Himiko actually hadn’t thought of a name for the boy; hadn’t so much considered it in fact, despite how long she’d known that he was going to be her familiar. She flipped through numerous possible names in her head, none of which seemed fitting enough.

“Saihara…” He muttered.

“What did you say?” She’d just barely been able to catch the sound of the boy’s voice while filing through her thoughts.

“Oh, well. It’s probably the best translation I could think of for what my pack was called. You know, from wolfspeak.”

“You’re in a pack?”

“I guess the better term would be ‘was’.” Himiko’s familiar smiled faintly, but from his eyes, she could tell this was a bittersweet memory. “I got separated a long while ago, after a fire near our den caused us to flee. I was the last one out… I haven’t had contact with them in years..”

“I apologize.” It was all she _could_ say. She wasn’t all too adept at comforting people. “Anyway, ‘Saihara’ sounds more like a last name. How do you write it, exactly?”

“Here, hold out your hand,” Himiko did as she was instructed, though she definitely felt awkward. She didn’t have many people she would consider close who weren’t family, so holding the hand of someone she’d only recently traded introductions with was even more jarring than usual. “The first character, ‘sai’.” He traced the character into her palm. “Then, the second character, ‘hara’.” She must’ve fidgeted awkwardly a few times, because her familiar looked up at her with concern.

“A… Are you alright?” She could hear the worry in his voice.

“I’m fine. Go on and write the second character.” To be honest, it kind of tickled a bit. When he was finished, he let go of her hand and put his own into a pocket on his pants.

“‘Saihara’ will be my last name, then?”

“Correct. Of course, no familiar of mine is going to walk around with simply a last name…” What exactly was fitting? ‘Saihara’ worked, with it referring to the more wilderness aspect of the wolf boy. “Shuuichi.”

“Shuuichi?”

“As your first name. Since you were the last one out of your den ‘n stuff. Thus, ‘Shuuichi’. Do you get where I’m coming from?”

“Shuuichi Saihara.” He appeared to mull over it for a while. “Yes, I think I like the sound of it…” Shuuichi appeared to be stuck. “Uhmm…”

“Oh, right.” Not only had she not brainstormed ideas to name her familiar, she also neglected to state her own name. “Himiko Yumeno. Mage… in training.” She begrudgingly added the last part.

“Well, Yumeno-sama, I will do everything in my power to assist you in your training.”

“Eh… don’t call me that.” Her face felt warm.

“Do you mean, ‘Yumeno-sama’?” Shuuichi’s repeat of the term only caused the pink that tainted Himiko’s face to darken. “Then what should I--”

“Yumeno-san is fine.” She was so used to being the young underdog that she’d never been addressed with such honorifics, not even sarcastically. Shuuichi was showing her respect, yes, but if she nearly died from embarrassment every time he said her name, she’d rather not bring him anywhere at all. Himiko Yumeno was a strong, powerful mage who didn’t like showing her feelings or being caught off guard.

“Alright, Yumeno-san,” Shuuichi’s face was a mixture of apologetic and confused, but he seemed just about as eager as she was to change the topic. “What’s our first order of duty today?”

“Just some light grocery shopping. I need to buy some more food for the both of us.”

* * *

 

The marketplace was always bustling with activity and life, and was the perfect example of everything Himiko hated. From the loud and sometimes pushy merchants, obnoxious children, and ominous alleyways, it always felt like there was little to be enjoyed, and much to be despised. The mage was an introvert through and through, and the marketplace was always so much at once. Being with someone else, someone who was taller than her and also male, did make her feel a bit better about the alleys, though.

“Which stand will we stop at first?” Shuuichi’s head head been on a swivel ever since they entered the area. It seemed he was doing this more out of caution than curiosity however.

“I gotta find a guy first. A guy who’s slippery as all get out, but always has the most info on the happenings of this hellhole.”

“Hellhole?” The boy gave her a smile and a raised eyebrow. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, wouldn’t you think?”

“It’s accurate, though.” Himiko huffed at the remark. “That guy always loiters around near fruit stands. Keep an eye out from a greasy-looking guy with short, green hair, and--”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but is that him over there?” Shuuichi pointed over to what was a mixed fruits stand, where it seemed the man in question was chatting it up with the merchant girl.

“Sure is. C’mon, let’s go.”

* * *

 

“Oh, Yumeno-san, fancy seeing you here.” The green-haired boy gave off a very relaxed, yet mature aura. He looked at Shuuichi. “Who’s this?”

“My familiar, Shuuichi Saihara!” Himiko couldn’t help but puff out her chest a little with pride as she announced this.

“Rantarou Amami, nice to meet you.” The boy stood up and extended an open hand towards Shuuichi.

“Nice to meet you as well, Amami-kun.” Shuuichi awkwardly shook the hand, something Himiko sniggered at. This was probably his first attempt at doing such a thing.

“So, Rantarou? What can Angie get you?” The dark-skinned merchant girl (who both Himiko and Shuuichi noticed was splattered in paint) leaned over to the boy in question and propped her head on her folded hands.

“You see, I was looking for some avocados, but I didn’t happen to see any here.” Rantarou wasn’t even remotely fazed by the girl getting closer to him. A sly smile crept up on his face. “Yonaga-san, you wouldn’t happen to be hoarding them again, would you?”

“Hoarding... avocadoes?” She looked at Rantarou, then at Shuuichi. Her familiar seemed to be just as miffed at the idea as she was.

“Not to mention, this being a common enough occurrence that Amami-kun used ‘again’...” Shuuichi added.

“Hmmm, _maybe_ Angie’s hoarding a few…” Despite being called out in front of multiple people at once, ‘Angie’ seemed to retain an innocuous-enough expression. “Angie snacks on them when constructing masterpieces. God needs Angie’s body to be well-fed in order to create true art, y’know?”

“Yes, but this customer’s also offering a bit more money than the normal person would pay for some avocados.” Rantarou pulled a few silver coins out of his pockets. “And with money, Yonaga-san can afford better art supplies to create some real masterpieces.”

“He’s… pretty good at negotiation, isn’t he?” Shuuichi tugged on a piece of his hair.

“Mmhmm.” Himiko nodded. “He’s always like this. It’s pretty much one of the only reasons why I stick around him.”

“That’s a bit rude, to talk about someone as if they’re not sitting right in front of you.” Despite the harsh comments, the boy in question took it all in stride. “So, what’s it gonna be?”

“Nyahaha! You win, Rantarou!” Angie bowed slightly to him, as if he’d just beaten her in some decisive battle. “How many do you want for that?”

“Two dozen.” Rantarou replied. Angie flashed a thumbs up, and bent over to get the fruit out of a box hidden below the cart.

“What is with you people and avocados?” The mage expressed a disgust at the sheer amount of the singular fruit Rantarou had ordered.

“Dunno, I had a craving yesterday afternoon, and what would you know, I didn’t have any! I thought I was carefully saving them, but it appears one of my sisters may have gotten their hands on them first.”

“Sisters?”

“Yeah. I have quite a few.” Angie handed him a bag of fruit as he thanked her and adjusted one of his bracelets. “I know about Yumeno-san, but do you have any siblings, Saihara-kun?”

“I don’t believe I do.” Shuuichi and Himiko joined Rantarou as he began to walk off. “I mean, it’s most likely I _do_ , but I can’t recall the details intimately.”

“Hmm, I see.” The boy nodded his head, then slung the bag of fruit over his shoulder. “So, Yumeno-san, I take it you need my sagely advice once more?”

“Just tell me where I can get the best deals for things like bread and meat.” With Rantarou, it always seemed to be better to just cut to the point, lest he continue with that extremely flowery and slangy-ridden speech pattern.

“Meat… I know there’s a guy with a lot of mutton on his hands who should be showing up to work today to desperately get rid of it.”

“Mutton?” The familiar tilted his head.

“Sheep meat.” The mage replied. It was a bit empowering that she was familiar with something Shuuichi wasn’t; the boy was incredibly intelligent and had a very sharp wit. “... How far from here is the mutton man?”

“Not too long of a walk, Your Laziness.” Rantarou laughed softly, watching Himiko’s expression change to one of annoyance. “My bad, that was uncalled for. I apologize.”

“Maybe, once I have enough mana… I’ll tie your tongue into knots.” Himiko huffed at the green-haired boy.

“It’d be difficult to strike up bargains for you if I was quite literally tongue-tied, though.” He hadn’t stopped smiling at her after he’d made that remark. “By the way, Saihara-kun, your face is awfully red. Are you feeling alright? We can always stop in the shade for a bit if this heat is too much for you.”

“Ah! No, I’m fine.” Shuuichi waved his hands.

“... Alright. You know you best, I suppose.” Rantarou walked to the front of the group, probably to better lead them, leaving Himiko to drop behind with Shuuichi.

“Tell me what’s on your mind. Otherwise, I got magic that can make you talk.” The girl smiled smugly at Shuuichi, sending a chill down his spine.

“I-I simply misunderstood one of the topics of conversation is all!” At this point, he was attempting to avoid eye contact. “A specific noun used means s-something _extremely, entirely_ different when it comes to us wolves.” Himiko stared at him for a while, trying to comprehend what exactly he was implying. Then, it hit her.

“Ah.” Was all she said. She then raised an eyebrow at Shuuichi. “Dirty boy.”

“E-Enough, Yumeno-san!! I-I understand, I apologize, it was my mistake!!”

* * *

 

When Rantarou had finally stopped walking, the trio found themselves in front of a small windowed butcher’s shop. Despite the interior being dimly it, one could see the multitude of meat hanging from the ceilings, as well as several people passing back and forth by the windows. The green-haired boy opened the door for the mage and her familiar, gesturing them to step in in front of him.

“This place is a bit more… bustling than usual.” Rantarou noted as he watched a taller, bespectacled male carrying a crate bump into the lanky girl carrying what smelled like some spices in a package, causing her to drop everything she was carrying.

“G-Gonta is really sorry about that, Chabashira-san!” The boy had set down the crate, and was kneeling down to attempt to help pick up the package. “Gonta got distracted by the--”

“Watch out where you’re going, you _men_ ace!” ‘Chabashira’ made an indescribable face of anger and disgust at ‘Gonta’, to which he flinched at the sight of. She then looked up at Shuuichi. “What do you want?”

Himiko watched as Shuuichi too flinched at the face the girl had made at him. He could barely form a coherent sentence and just began stuttering. It then seemed that the girl had just noticed Himiko’s presence.

“O-Oh, uh, hello there…” Her tone, expression, and body language seemed to do a complete 180. “Can I get you anything?”

“Uhhh…” Himiko was caught up in the sheer whiplash of the girl’s transformation. She looked at Rantarou for help, who simply laughed.

“We were looking for Momota-kun. Do you know where he is?”

“In the back, Gonta thinks.”  The tall boy had picked up the package of spices and placed it on the counter behind them. “He left Gonta and Chabashira-san to take care of the front, so that’s probably where he is…”

“Thank you.” Rantarou started walking to the back, before suddenly turning around. “By the way, what are your names? I’m afraid this is the first time I’ve seen you all around here before. I’m Rantarou Amami.”

“Gonta Gokuhara! Nice to meet you as well, Amami-kun!”

“Tenko Chabashira. Momota-san has us working as part-timers, lazy bastard.” She spat after making this remark.

“Wait, Tenko Chabashira… as in that tournament winner? The one who won those one-on-one fights, I mean.” Himiko wore a puzzled expression, and as per usual, it was mixed in with some drowsiness as well.

“You know it!!” Tenko almost seemed to leap from where she was over to the shorter girl. “Though, Tenko kinda, uh…” She pointed to her left arm. “Pulled a muscle a few months back. I’ve been trying to get back into fighting but it just hasn’t been the same…”

“Chabashira-san is still pretty good in those fights, though!” Gonta seemed to go for a shoulder pat, but swiftly reconsidered when he saw Tenko’s arm move ever-so-slightly. “The three of us are thinking about entering the three-man tournaments this time around. Gonta normally wouldn’t do something so unbecoming of a gentleman, but a lot of the town’s knights enter the competition too, so it can’t be that bad.”

“Knights? I didn’t see any around.” Shuuichi frowned. He must’ve been a bit angry with himself that he couldn’t pick up on them.

“Oh, they’re usually loitering around somewhere.” Rantarou smiled lightly at Shuuichi. “They tend not to dress like knights very often, though. It’s rare to see knights in full armor in this town.” He then gestured at the mage and her familiar. “By the way, these two would be Himiko Yumeno-san and Shuuichi Saihara-kun. Saihara-kun is Yumeno-san’s familiar.”

“Familiar, huh? Tenko thinks she could do better than a _men_ ace like that.” Tenko then reached out a hand to Himiko. “It’s very nice to meet you, Yumeno-san!”

“U-Uh. Nice to meet you too.” It seemed Himiko wasn’t prepared for the ferocity of the handshake, as her arm waved around as Tenko shook her hand instead of staying firm. “And he’s really not that bad.”

“Gonta thinks Saihara-kun is an excellent familiar!” Gonta beamed at the aforementioned boy and patted him on the back, to which the latter promptly fell over. The taller boy immediately crouched down to see if Shuuichi was alright. “Saihara-kun! Are you okay!? Gonta didn’t mean to knock you over… argh, this is so ill-fitting of a gentleman!”

“G-Gonta-kun…” Shuuichi was probably a bit winded, but he tried his best to sound composed. “Really, it’s not a problem. It was an accident, after all. Anyway, I’m not hurt, so you don’t really need to drag yourself down so much…”

“R-Really?” Gonta had looked like he was on the verge of tears. “Gonta’s so glad…” He almost effortlessly helped pull Shuuichi up.

“Nice meeting you two,” Rantarou waved at the two part-timers, before pushing the flap that sealed off the front of the shop from the back. “However, I must cut this time short. We’re in a race against Yumeno-san’s drowsiness, you see.” He winked at Himiko, who blew a raspberry in response.

“I… If you’re tired, Yumeno-san, Tenko’s house isn’t too far from here, and you could rest there…” Tenko seemed to be avoiding any and all eye contact from each direction.

“Nah, shouldn’t be a problem if I conserve my mana, y’know?”

“A-Ah! Right, of course! How could I forget? Haha, silly me…” Tenko’s face seemed to grow red, and she was fidgeting with her fingers. “W-Well, if you need help with anything, feel free to ask us!”

“Sure… uh… yeah, I’ll consider it…”

* * *

 

“You seemed quite awkward with Chabashira-san.” Shuuichi whispered to Himiko as they followed Rantarou to the very, very back of the store. “Did she do something to wrong you?”

“No, it’s just…” Himiko let out a sigh. “She’s all, uhh… full of energy, and… I dunno, talking to people like that kinda tires me out sometimes.”

“Conversations tend to do that.” Rantarou replied. The sound of his voice made Himiko jump slightly. “Haha, sorry. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop.”

“How do _you_ talk to people so much and so often?” The mage frowned, looking at the new addition to the conversation.

“I suppose it’s just practice. It’s really all mental stamina when it comes down to it.” Rantarou peeked over some of the shelves to see if he could spot the elusive ‘Momota’ they seemed to be chasing down. “It’s just like real stamina in the sense that if you exercise it on a regular basis, it’ll improve over time.”

“He’s right.” Shuuichi affirmed, also looking for Momota. “In any case, Chabashira-san talks to you much more kindly than Amami-kun or I. Being friends with her might not be such a bad idea, since it seems like she treats you better than most.”

“Chabashira-san’s always been like that, as far as I can recall. I don’t know her personally, but I’ve heard several details of gossip while walking through the marketplace daily.” Rantarou winked at both of them. “But it’s probably not good to listen to those kinds of details when someone else is listening, right Momota-kun?”

“GAHH!! How do you always know I’m lurkin’ around even when ya don’t see me!?” From behind one of the vacant shelves, a spiky-haired boy with a small beard crept out, glaring at Rantarou. “You some sorta psychic or what?”

“Just a guy helping his friends find some mutton I just _know_ a certain someone has.”

“Seriously, what the hell. Even I couldn’t have detected him.” Himiko whispered to Shuuichi. “Is he even human?”

“Yeah, just a guy who’s helping his friends he doesn’t even introduce as he gets straight to business. So, who’re these guys?”

“Himiko Yumeno, mage. … In training.”

“Shuuichi Saihara, Yumeno-san’s familiar. Nice to meet you… uh…”

“Kaito Momota, current butcher-in-training, sure, but I’m gonna be a knight! … Once I get used to proper etiquette ‘n shit.”

“What exactly does becoming a knight entail?” Shuuichi asked. “As in, what’s the process?”

“A bunch of nonsense, for starters.” Kaito scratched at his chin, grimacing. “First of all, you have to submit some fancy paperwork with a letter of approval of someone who’s already in the knights to so much as put the royal emblem on your shoulder pad or whatever. But you also gotta be proficient in fightin’ with a lance or a sword, ‘cause axes ‘n tridents and all that jazz are apparently too ‘menacing’ for knights. And _then_ etiquette proposes you a whole new bunch of bullshit rules you gotta agree with which I won’t even delve into, but you catch my drift. Long story short, it’s all fuckin’ shit.”

“I… erm, I see.” Shuuichi smiled sympathetically at Kaito. “It definitely seems a bit excessive.”

“A bit, ha, if only it was just a bit.”

“Momota-kun’s an axe user, which is part of the reason he’s so mad over the whole knight process.” Informed Rantarou. “In any case, how about that mutton?”

“You... you ain’t even gonna listen to my pain, dude?” Kaito winced slightly at the earlier remark. “Saihara, you’re my new best friend. This guy’s the worst, don’t you agree?”

“E-Eh?”

“Saihara-kun… I know we’ve only just met earlier today, but I thought our friendship would mean more than some guy you met actual minutes ago…”

“Wh-What’s going on…!?”

“Shuuichi… pick wisely.” Himiko cautioned.

“I-I’m not picking!! You both seem like good people, and Yumeno-san and I only came here with the intention to get some sheep meat!!”

“Mutton.”

“S-Sure, right, mutton!”

“See, for Saihara, I’ll even knock off some of the price! How does that sound, friend?” Kaito grinned wide at him as he put on some nearby gloves.

“I’ll take it, since I’m the one paying for it anyway.” Himiko flashed a thumbs-up at her familiar. “Thanks, Shuuichi.”

“By the way, Momota-kun,” Rantarou called out to Kaito, who had left the trio’s field of vision. “When did you hire part-timers? I’d say I’m a pretty frequent customer, but I’ve never seen those two around here.”

“Oh, that.” Kaito half-grumbled as he brought forth a tray with a slab of meat on top, set it down, and reached for a butcher knife a table over. “Usually my grandparents run the front, but… they’re old. I didn’t want ‘em walkin’ around here, stressin’ themselves out over runnin’ a business and pullin’ muscles tryna grab things. So I just got some friends who could do some heavy lifting once in a while.”

“You don’t seem too happy about it.” Shuuichi observed.

“My old man threw a fit over it is all. It’s for the better anyhow.” Kaito let them see one last troubled expression, then immediately rebounded back with his usual enthusiasm. “So, how big do you want this cut?”

“Like… hmmm…” Himiko squinted and put a hand to her chin. “Like about half as tall… and take off a fourth of the length.”

“Precision with this huge ass knife is gonna be a bit difficult, but I’ll try my best!” Kaito grinned at Himiko, and went to work downsizing the mutton.

“Now what’s this I hear about three-man tournaments from Gonta-kun?” Rantarou was looking about the back of the shop. The back wasn’t really much to look at; it was expansive, yes, but it didn’t have much aside from a cold fog (probably a result of some sort of magic barrier instated to keep the back room, and the meat it contained, cold and fresh) and a few tables here and there. What little one could see through the fog was mostly vacant space.

“Yours truly, and a couple friends, are gonna make their debut in the arena! Er, well I guess Chabashira’s already an established fighter there. But it’ll be me and Gonta’s first time in the ring!!”

“You mentioned earlier you were friends with Chabashira-san...” The familiar pointed out. “I don’t mean to be rude, but--”

“You’re gonna ask how someone who hates men is somehow friends with this macho man, right?” Asked Kaito. Shuuichi nodded his head. “We’ve known each other since we were little. She, uh, wasn’t always like that. Shit happened, to say the least. I won’t talk about it much, though.”

“What about Gonta-kun?”

“Oh, that guy. Met him one day when I was choppin’ firewood a few months back. Really nice guy, kinda awkward and really strong, but super nice. I’d trust him with my life.” He had managed to slice off the aforementioned half of mutton off the top of the cut, and was now working on the length, and cursed when the knife didn’t slide through in one slice. “I need to sharpen this damn thing ‘fore I cut one of my fingers off. Lemme get another knife for now.” Kaito stomped off to the fog, still spewing curses.

“How interesting. I wonder where he came from?” Rantarou smiled his usual carefree smile, and put his hand under his chin.

“Eugh, Amami’s scheming face.” Himiko looked at Rantarou’s expression while sporting a grimace of her own.

“Scheming face?” Shuuichi asked warily, staring at Rantarou.

“Yeah. Whenever he’s up to no good, he makes that face. Thus…” She made some weird hand movements. “Scheming face.”

“I don’t scheme. I just process information and think about how it plays into the grand scheme of things.”

“Say what you want, Mr. Scheming Face, but my magic has revealed the truth.”

“You slipped a truth serum into my breakfast this morning? Or perhaps, a mind-reading spell? If you have not done either of those things, you cannot say I am lying.” The boy’s ‘scheming face’ turned into a much more smug expression.

“This conversation has gotten incredibly hard to follow…” Shuuichi interjected uneasily, though his expression remained serious, as if he was still trying to comprehend just what exactly the witch and the scheming boy had been talking about. He then spotted a shape creeping out of the fog. “Oh, Momota-kun!”

“Yo, I’m back!” Proudly, Kaito lifted up the newly-sharpened knife, causing the trio to all simultaneously flinch. “... Hey now, I didn’t mean to…” He quickly realized what he’d done, and brought the knife down to a normal level.

“I just saw my whole life flash before my eyes…” Himiko shuddered, still eying the blade. “Don’t do that again!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that, okay!? I just wanted you all t’ see how cool it looked after it was all sharp…” Solemnly, he went back over to cut the mutton as Himiko had instructed him to. Shuuichi, Himiko, and Rantarou all looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

“He looks like he’s on the verge of tears.” Rantarou whispered to them, his eyes trailing over towards Kaito. “... Maybe we should apologize?”

“Nah. He deserved that. He knew that we wouldn’t be able to see him creeping out of the fog like a… creep.” Himiko looked over at the butcher as well, her eyebrows creasing. “I’m not apologizing.”

Shuuichi looked back and forth from all of them, sighed, and walked over to Kaito (whose eyes were _certainly_ tearing up a bit, even if he tried to hide them). He cleared his throat to get his attention.

“Um, Momota-kun.” He was uneasy, not because of the knife, but likely due to the regular anxiety that comes with approaching someone. “I… I’m sorry about that. While our reaction to the knife was warranted, we, uh, overreacted. So… we’d like to apologize.” The familiar bowed.

“Aw, man, what the hell. Men shouldn’t hafta apologize like that! Stand up straight!” Kaito gave Shuuichi a pat on the back. Any semblance of tears were gone from his face.

“Y-Yes!” Shuuichi’s feet fumbled around after the impact of the pat, but he didn’t lose his footing this time.

“Now, you guys hold on just a minute longer. I’m almost done with the best cut you’re ever gonna see in your lives!”

“I cannot wait to be impressed.” Rantarou said cheekily.

* * *

 

“That all took way too long. I’m pooped.” Himiko looked at the clear bag full of mutton Kaito had given her as she walked in between Rantarou and her familiar. The piece of meat was larger than she told him to cut it, which was likely part of his “discount”.

“Don’t you have more things to get from the market? There’s still a bit of time before people start packing up their wares. If you have anything you need, now would be the time to get it.” The green-haired boy cautioned her. The witch waved him off.

“Eugh, I’d rather just go home. Dealing with everyone today has been so tiresome. … How come so many people are so energetic?”

“It would probably do a merchant some good to be at least slightly charismatic.” Shuuichi suggested shyly.

“Yeah, but _why_? Why can’t there just be any super lax dudes at carts and stores instead of… freakin’ Momota! And that girl from earlier! I should blast ‘em with my magic to calm them down.” A scary look crossed her face.

“Now, now,” Rantarou suddenly took on the tone of a lecturing older brother. “We shouldn’t attack them. I know that you being an introvert makes it difficult to deal with people like that, but you can’t just resort to blasting them with magic when you’re tired of them. That’s illegal.”

“For the first time in my life, I’m considering being a criminal.” Himiko muttered under her breath. Suddenly, her footsteps stopped as she looked into a well-lit shop they were passing by. “What’s this place?”

Rantarou peered inside. From what he could see through the windows, it was some sort of clothing shop… or maybe a music shop? He honestly couldn’t tell. There were music sheets strewn about, but also several racks of clothing lined up. Either way, the shop seemed to emit a certain cosiness that even most homes couldn’t replicate, with how warm it looked inside with the fireplace lit in the back, as well as the faint trace of music that could be heard standing outside of it.

“... It’s definitely a shop.” He concluded. “They don’t seem to be all that busy, though. I’m certain they wouldn’t mind if you just stopped by the look.”

“Heck yeah, I’m goin’ in.” Himiko had been eying the fireplace in the back, as well as some of the pillows that were scattered on the floor. The shop looked incredibly inviting to the sleepy witch.

“If you want to rest, we could always just make the trek home while it’s still light enough outside…” Shuuichi sighed. He noticed that his master had been enticed with the interior of the shop. “Besides, we haven’t eaten yet. … And we should probably get the mutton to a cold space soon before it goes bad.” _He_ personally was far more invested in the meat than anything else. Just looking at it made his mouth water.

Rantarou let out a laugh. “Have fun arguing with Yumeno-san, she’s already made up her mind. And she’s known for being incredibly stubborn.” He opened the door and gestured for Himiko and Shuuichi to step inside, rustling a bell in the process.

The wolf took one long, wistful look at the mutton, shook his head, and followed the witch into the store.

* * *

 

A bespectacled girl from behind the counter looked up from a sewing project at the trio when she saw them walk in, and waved silently before going back to her work. Shuuichi’s ears then picked up on a thumping noise from somewhere in the shop.

“Excuse me,” Rantarou approached the counter, and made eye-contact with the girl as she slowly looked up. “But what kind of shop is this? Forgive me, I’m a regular around this area, but I’m not familiar with this shop in the slightest.”

“Well…” The girl readjusted her glasses before looking back down at her work. “This _was_ originally a used-wares shop, but the owners moved locations and ended up selling this place for dirt cheap. Apparently, they had trouble selling it for higher. … So, a friend and I bought this place to start our businesses. I run a fashion business.” Without looking up, she gestured to the rows of clothing. “She runs a music store. Most of her stuff is in the back.”

“Music store? As in sheet music, instruments, or accessories?”

“I’m guessing a little bit of everything. She writes her own music, and apparently she publishes books for learning how to play the piano. I wouldn’t know the specifics, though. I’m not at all musically talented.”

“For ‘friends’, you seem to… not really understand her at all.”

“She’s kind of weird. I met her at an arts and music festival and we stayed in touch since. Saying I know any intimate details about her would be lying.” The girl stopped for a minute, as if to think about something. “Ah, I don’t mean to speak badly of her! I just think we’re like apples and oranges.”

“I see. Well, thank you very much.” Rantarou nodded at her.

“It’s not a problem. If you want to talk to Akamatsu-san about what she sells specifically, she’s in the back, carrying some boxes out to the front.” The girl’s focus didn’t change from her work at all.

Rantarou walked back to where Himiko and Shuuichi were. Himiko had already made herself comfortable, having taken a pillow and one of the longer dresses to use as a blanket near the fire. Shuuichi was dutifully watching over her, but Rantarou noticed his grimace as his eyes passed over to the mutton.

“You’re _still_ angry about that.” He mused, sitting next to the familiar.

“I-I wouldn’t say angry… just disappointed.” The wolf shook his head to deny the harsh terminology.

“It’s okay to feel anger, y’know. It’s not some sort of taboo to get mad.”

“No, it’s just… I don’t feel I have the right to show anything but respect and concern for Yumeno-san. I owe her a debt, you see.”

“She’s out like a light, so if you say certain things about her, she won’t be able to hear them. She’s a pretty heavy sleeper. Besides… servants shouldn’t need to feel afraid to critique their masters. I’d personally like to hear your thoughts about an almost-full day spent with Yumeno-san.”

“Erm… really? … You won’t tell her, right? I don’t want to hurt her feelings.” Shuuichi still seemed uneasy about this.

“Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Well, alright then…” Shuuichi took a deep inhale. “She’s… _incredibly lazy_ , to start with the obvious. She’s pretty self-centered as well, not to mention she tunes out everything she doesn’t want to hear or reacts negatively to it. She’s judgemental too. But… I think she’s just been… babied for too long, is all. With experience, most of those things should rectify themselves.”

“O, such sagely insight and wisdom.” Rantarou closed his eyes and held up both his hands, as if to emulate a monk. “... I’m messing with you. I agree with everything you’ve said, except for that last part. The reason Yumeno-san is so childish is because she’s never faced any real hardship in her life. The most she’s probably encountered with struggle are difficult-to-read textbooks, and she’s not likely to step out of that comfort zone soon.”

“So you propose I push her out of it?”

“Not necessarily you, but someone has to do it.”

“I… I don’t think I could do that, sorry. I know the idea has good intentions, but I can’t see any plausible way of doing so without making her mad.”

“That’s fair. It’d look a tad like hypocrisy on your end.”

“... Excuse me?” Shuuichi looked up at Rantarou, confused. “I mean, I won’t deny that I have negative traits, but…” Rantarou shook his head and laughed.

“Don’t mind me. Just musing about stupid stuff, and I let my mouth get ahead of my thoughts. You can forgive me for that, yeah?”

“I… I suppose I can.”

“Good, good. Again, sorry about that. I don’t mean to say mean stuff.” Almost as if on-cue to cut off the awkward conversation, a girl with a stack of boxes ran past them. Something set on the top of the stack fell over with a thud.

“Arrrgh…!” Slowly, the girl set down the boxes to examine the object. She twisted a notch on it, most likely to test if it had received any notable damage after being dropped. To her relief, it started making an annoying rapid ticking sound.

“Hello.” Rantarou said, his face blank. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Oh!” The girl looked wide-eyed at the trio on the floor. “Oh, oh! Hi, I’m Kaede Akamatsu! Sorry, I’m a bit scatterbrained. I didn’t even notice you guys were here!”

“I’m Rantarou Amami. The boy is Shuuichi Saihara, and the freeloading sleeper is Himiko Yumeno. We just came to check out the shop… Yumeno-san came to sleep.”

“Nice to meet you, Amami-kun, Saihara-kun!” The girl stopped the obnoxious ticking device and set it on a shelf, then proceeded to pick up the boxes she’d set down. “The girl over there is Tsumugi Shirogane.”

“Nice to meet you both.” Shuuichi looked at Kaede trying to carry the stack of boxes. “... Do you need help with those?”

“What, these? Nah…!” Though she didn’t sound too convincing, Kaede still smiled at the two of them. “I’ve got this.”

“You fell earlier, so I wouldn’t say you have the situation under control.”

“... How did you know that?”

“... I heard a loud thump.” He looked at Rantarou, Kaede, and even Tsumugi (who was still paying attention to her sewing), hoping one of them would be able to affirm his account. “... Did no one else hear it!?” The three of them shook their heads.

“Anyway, seriously, it’s no big deal, Saihara-kun. I’ll get back to talking to you when I put this stuff away.” She scuttled off, carefully avoiding the music sheets on the ground, to one of the inventory shelves.

“That would be your canine sense, Saihara-kun~.” Rantarou propped his hands upward on his head and waved them about to imitate wolf ears.

“Stop that.” Shuuichi scowled at him. Kaede quickly returned with some three water cups for them. The boys graciously accepted them, and left the third by Himiko’s side for when she woke up. To their surprise, Tsumugi put down her work to go upstairs.

“It’s almost supper for us, so she’s going to prepare something.” Kaede informed them. “Sorry if Shirogane-san hasn’t been talkative. She’s working hard to meet a deadline. Apparently, she was commissioned by some sort of nobility to make a sweater, since the weather’s been getting colder.”

“That’s a pretty high honor.” Shuuichi looked into his water cup.

“Yep! She’s so hardworking.” Kaede smiled at him, causing the familiar to blush. “Supposedly, we have a guest showing up for dinner, so I might have to kick you guys out.” She started fidgeting with her fingers.

“‘Supposedly’? Implying there’s any doubt?” Rantarou lifted an eyebrow as he proceeded to drink from his water cup.

“The person we’re waiting for isn’t exactly… punctual. We don’t even know if she’ll show up at all.”

“Some guest she is.”

“Oh, hush.” Kaede lightly shoved Rantarou. “She’s a good person, just busy a lot. Her job doesn’t really leave timeslots for us to hang out a whole lot, anyway, so it’s good whenever she can make time for us.”

“If you’re kicking us out, does this mean this shop doubles as a living space?” Rantarou watched as Tsumugi made her way back downstairs with what looked like some fruit and meat, and cleared off the counter.

“Yeah, for me at least. Shirogane-san sometimes spends the night here, but I live here full-time. It’s kind of a weird situation.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Shuuichi reassured her. “After all, you’re closer to your business.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Kaede nodded, before turning back to Tsumugi. “Did you get any word from you-know-who that she’d be punctual?”

“Not at all. I’m telling you, trying to contact her over messenger pigeon is a lost cause. The only way we ever know anything concrete about her plans is when we talk to her in-person.” Tsumugi called back, as she started peeling some of the fruit with a knife.

“Figures…” Kaede grumbled something unintelligible. “Still, I think I should kick you out about now.” She looked over the sleeping girl with an expression that read as “I’m really sorry to wake her up, but you guys have to leave”.

“That’s fine. We only came to look, anyway.” Shuuichi nodded, as he watched Rantarou gently rub Himiko’s shoulder until he woke her up. She looked confused, then sleepy, then angry for being woken up from her slumber. “Thank you very much, Akamatsu-san.”

“Not a problem. You guys take care!” She got up to open the door for them as they all began to leave, waving to them as they exited. Closing the door, she smiled as she went to fetch the two empty water cups and one full one. She already missed the two boys, and was a bit distraught she didn’t get to talk to the witch girl. Plus, that one boy was so _interesting_ ! How did he hear her fall? She’d like to think she had really good hearing, but this boy, who didn’t seem to have any musical training, knew right away. _He’d be an excellent pianist, if he put forth the effort_ , she thought to herself.

There was a loud rapping on one of the windows upstairs that broke her out of her thoughts. Walking upstairs to the messy floor she called her room, she saw a person’s silhouette hunched over, likely because they were trying to stand on the spot reserved for a flower box while still looking into the shop. Sighing, she put down the cups and unlocked the window.

“You could just enter through the front door like a normal person.” She said, with a smirk.

“No-can-do. I didn’t risk wanting to be seen. This street’s already bad enough as is, with all the people passing through it every day.” The shorter girl hissed back, sporting a green cloak with a crossbow slung over her shoulder.

“Busy day?” Kaede closed and locked the window, and went to help the girl remove her crossbow and cloak. “No weapons at the table.”

“Slow day. Just a lot of watching.” The girl grumbled as her form-obscuring cloak and primary weapon were stripped from her body. “So, are we getting ready to eat yet? I’m starving.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey it's me, that bitch, again. it's been a while since i saw you all last in september (which is incidentally, when i began writing this fic).
> 
> first of all, thanks for reading through the first chapter of this! i really wanted to get all character introductions out of the way in the first chapter, but nah. that's for strong writers with a sense of direction. that is himiko, shuuichi, rantarou, angie, gonta, tenko, momota, tsumugi, kaede, and maki out of the way, though. that's more than half the cast! i feel kinda proud for having enough stamina to get to 'em all, even if like 3 of them were in the same area at any given time.
> 
> despite this being fantasy, you'll notice a lot of these assholes are human. maybe they're all lying about being human? again, i have no sense of direction, although i have the specifics of everyone's characters planned out. it's pretty obvious what most of these characters fit into as of rpg classes (gonta being a beskerker/barbarian sort of guy, himiko obviously being a witch, maki being an assassin, etc etc), so i figured i'd mostly work around that. i wonder how this rag-tag group of semi-amicable acquaintances will get along together? only time will tell!
> 
> quick note that everyone probably wants to know: there will likely be ships sooner or later (as there is a certain one i have in mind i'm quite fond of), i'm just laying the groundwork for these first few chapters.
> 
> idk there's a few references to things here and there (you get a cookie if you know where "scheming face" is from), and there's a sex joke too. sorry for rantarou being an exposition dummy bot for characters to explain what the hell is going on? i sure hope he didn't come off that way.
> 
> again, thank you! i hope i remember update this series like a good writer [looks wistfully at my other abandoned fanfic on ff.net with careless whisper playing in the background]. i got finals coming up this month, hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


	2. Chapter 2

They said, in this town, that if you stayed on the streets at all times, you were likely to be able to walk anywhere without disruption, aside from the badgering merchants on the street occasionally. The alleyways, however, were a different story. Even in broad daylight, they weren’t trustworthy. Thugs often grouped up and plotted here, and it was the ideal location for illicit trade deals. Word on the street was that you could get substances that would boost your magic abilities and mana levels to near-godlike, though of course no one had ever actually seen or was selling such a thing. One such alleyway, on the contrary, was empty. There were a few scattered alcohol bottles, some wanted posters for criminals who had been turned in long ago alongside up-and-coming delinquents, and a few small puddles of mystery liquid.

A woman took a few cautious steps into the alleyway, looking around for any sign of activity. She wasn’t exactly the type to slip into an area like this, what with her more traditional-looking clothes and dignified movements. Readjusting her gloves, she stepped over the puddles with a sort of quick jump-step, and looked around. The walls of the buildings that created the space weren’t exactly cleaned often, but they were relatively spotless in comparison to others. With this observation, the woman was sure she had found the right location for the meet-up. Now, it just a question of where the others were.

“I thought the kid was coming.” A deep voice huffed, before making themselves obvious. Right behind her, there was a small… boy… or man perhaps, (or at least, that’s what the gruffness in the voice would have one believe) approaching.

“I’m alone,” She reassured. “Although, we should have one more guest appearing shortly. … Why did you think he was coming?”

“You were looking awfully frantic. Everything about your movements would imply you were anxious.” He gave a small chuckle. Finally, his frame became obvious. He  _ was _ quite short, and while he wore a loose-fitting beanie on his head that made him appear taller, he probably barely came up to the woman’s waist. His tiger tail swayed to and fro.

“It’s because the third party who will be joining us is a slippery customer. I was looking for him more than anything.” The woman sighed. She knew she arrived punctually, but she had no idea when the person they were waiting for would actually show up.

“While we’re waiting…” The boy took out a coin and flipped it. Tails or heads? The woman didn’t see the final result. “What are we gonna do about the kid?”

“Keep his demands satisfied in the meantime. It would be wise not to make him upset, I’d think.”

“Can’t believe I’m letting myself be bossed around by a human. My, my, how the mighty have fallen.” He looked as his result of the coin flip and shook his head, frowning.

“You lack a free will in this matter. Honestly, it’s despicable for  _ anyone _ to blackmail someone else with lives on the line should they not obey a command.”

“So says the kitsune about the human.” A sly grin crosses his face, with a hint of fangs in the corner of his mouth.

“Kitsunes who use their gifts for trickery and antics are detestable.” She  _ was _ at that stage, once in her life. But hundreds upon hundreds of years passed, and she grew from it. “If anything, we should use our powers to aid those who need it.”

“I still thank you a lot for helping me out with… all this.”

“It is not a problem. More importantly…” The woman removed a glove, and her hand lit up with sparks of magic. “Our guest has arrived.”

“... Arrived?” The boy put the coin away, and looked around the alleyway. He then looked back at the kitsune with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t see anyone.”

“Obviously.” Taking the ungloved hand, the woman lightly touched on a particularly dark part of the wall. “Come forth and reveal the true form.” After the incantation was spoken, a bright blast of light  came from the wall, followed by an oddly loud thud of something hitting the ground. Out of the fading shine stood up a very tall and thin man with dark, long hair. Most peculiarly, a mask covered the bottom of his mouth. Still, one could make out from his eyes that he was not all too pleased with being turned back into his true form.

“Again with this.” The masked man appeared to be clutching his side, likely where he fell. “I cannot break the bones in my body, for they are not real. I  _ can _ , however, feel pain.”

“He’s a shadow person.” The kitsune nodded at the tiger, not seeming to care for the state of his side. “Introduce yourself.”

“Korekiyo Shinguuji, aforementioned shadow person.” Grimacing, Korekiyo bent over to observe the deep-voiced boy’s features. “You’re a youkai. How… disappointing.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” He held an open hand for the taller man to shake. “Ryouma Hoshi. … Tiger youkai, as you probably can tell.”

“Ryouma Hoshi…? I feel as though I’ve heard that name before. Is there a murder spree associated with your title?” Korekiyo shook Ryouma’s hand, and his other covered his mouth (or, where his mouth would be if he wasn’t wearing that mask).

“That’s in the past. I’m not that person. I’m that person’s empty shell.”

“As you can tell, Shinguuji-kun is always a master of tact and delicacy.” The woman butted in, giving the shadow man a glare. “Your report? We need to pass this on, so make it quick.”

“Ah yes, my report.” Korekiyo ignored her attempt to get him to apologize for his brashness. “If you wouldn’t mind… I of course want to preface this by stating I admire human beauty.”

“We don’t particularly care.” The woman interjected. “As I said earlier, make this quick.”

“Kirumi Toujou-san, on the other hand, does not.” Korekiyo acted as if they weren’t under the duress of a time limit. “The marketplace, as per usual, is a bustling place. I have seen roughly about eleven or so new stands come up in the past month, so I do believe the economy is in a boom right now. Prices have remained relatively the same, excluding sales and deals of course. There is a man I see here every day, and he purchased an astounding amount of avocados from a cleric girl… or priestess, I cannot recall, and he went off on his merry way with a young mage and a boy whom I have never seen before. He is likely staying with the girl, judging by the way he timidly followed her everywhere. There was also a loud girl in the market who demanded fifteen different mechanically-themed items for a bargain price that no merchant in their right mind would ever sell, but apparently her abrasiveness was just enough to get the customer to budge--”

“Alright, I believe we’ve heard enough.” Kirumi put up a hand to tell him to stop speaking. “Thank you.”

“You can… remember things in quite a great detail.” Ryouma stared at Korekiyo dumbfounded. He had expected a summary, not…  _ that _ .

“I already watch humans on a regular basis. Regaling my observations is truly one of the fruits of my work. Hoshi-kun, do you know you yourself grip your thumb, index finger, and middle finger together whenever you feel stress?”

“Huh…” The tiger youkai stared at his hand for a bit. “Suppose I do. … Why do you care, though? I thought humans was what you liked to observe.”

“Humans are the most interesting, but that is not to say that youkai such as Toujou-san and yourself have no appealing qualities whatsoever. For instance, Toujou-san--”  
“I do not care, unfortunately. We need to meet with someone, _now_.” Kirumi gave Ryouma a light push to tell him it was time for them to leave. “Perhaps next time.” The two of them immediately left the alleyway. It seemed they really weren’t kidding about urgently needing to go somewhere.

“Toujou-san’s tail swishes whenever she’s thinking very hard on something. Although, most people wouldn’t know about it, since she usually stays in her completely-human form.” Korekiyo muttered, to no one in particular. “I personally find it quite interesting. What do you think, Sister?”

* * *

 

Shuuichi Saihara was dreaming. It was something that felt too distant to be a memory, yet too close to be considered an illusion. He was his wolf self in this dream, although his legs felt too stumpy for him to possibly be the age he was now. He couldn’t really recall much from his childhood, just that he had no siblings and that his parents didn’t play too much of a part in his growing up. Another wolf, a distant family member, maybe an uncle, was really the only one from his pack that he could remember. An older male wolf with a grizzled muzzle with a deep-running scar on his hip who would nip at him when he got too rowdy.

Right now in this dream, he was running through tall grass. He was being chased. He could hear footsteps, or maybe the padding of paws, trying to gain on him. Whatever he was being chased by, he was a lot faster. Fast enough to the point of where he could slow down to more of a half-hearted jog than a full-on sprint and still be a good length ahead. It was weird; didn’t these kinds of dreams usually make you feel a certain sense of dreading anxiety? He tried to look back at what was chasing him. No. He couldn’t make out the shape. Whatever it was, was too far back. Apparently, it had given up long before he had, and was simply standing still, watching him jog away.

And so he did.

* * *

 

What he actually awoke to was him being prodded in the face by his master.

“You did that thing dogs do when they have a dream where they’re chasing a rabbit in their sleep.” She smiled smugly as his eyes began to flicker open. “Where their legs move like they’re actually running. I didn’t know wolves did it, too.” Shuuichi opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was then he realized he was in his wolf form. Right. He had turned back to fit better on the couch he was sleeping on.

“Didja get the rabbit? Or whatever it was. Maybe something like a baby deer, since you’re a wolf ‘n all.” Well, he wasn’t chasing anything, but he frowned at the implication of killing a baby deer.  _ I’m not cruel _ …

“Anyways, I don’t remember a thing past the fireplace in that shop… I’m kinda jealous. They have all that firewood, just lying there…”  _ Is she jealous of the firewood? That’s understandable, this place isn’t too densely-wooded, so you’d have to pay for firewood… _ “I wanted to take some of it back. But it would be too heavy.”  _ Nevermind. She’s simply too lazy to so much as go get it _ .

Shuuichi began to sit up on the couch. What stopped him from standing up completely and running off was the feeling of something sliding off his shoulders. … Right, those were his clothes. It would take him a while to get used to this feeling when shifting in between forms. Though, that reminded him: there was still that question of  _ how _ he managed to change forms despite the fact that Himiko never uttered the spell to do so. It would probably have to be of his own power, since he was with the witch the whole time she was awake on the day of their encounter. That would mean he himself was capable of using magic, and some of the strong kind. Still, the answer to the question evaded him. Regular wolves weren’t supposed to know magic, and it didn’t help him that his memory of childhood was sort of foggy. Maybe those two things, his mysterious past and ability to use magic, were linked? That’s what he’d initially believed, in any case. … Either way, this was an answer he’d have to search for himself.

Or, right. He had Himiko now. She wasn’t exactly a fountain of knowledge, but she probably knew more about magic than he did. And even if she didn’t know the answer, she might know someone or somewhere to get the information they needed to solve this puzzle. He’d have to chance out of wolf form first to ask her though. Without another word, he quickly transformed back to being a human. Again, this was something that would take a while to get used to. It felt like his bones and muscles were slowly rearranging themselves (which was likely, since he was turning from a quadrupedal stature to a bipedal one), and he was extremely relieved when it was all over. Shuuichi quickly adjusted the clothes that had slid about on his body during the transformation back, and cleared his throat.

“I’ve never seen you transform like that…” Himiko interjected before he could even speak, her eyes wide. “That… was so cool! I wish I could’ve seen your first one…”

“Ah, well, uhm…” If he had a hat on right now, he’d use it to hide his face. “Thank you, Yumeno-san. I actually… had a question about the transformation. The reason I can transform… is it of my own doing?”

“Hm? Nah. If you were originally a totally normal wolf, there’s no way you possibly could. Regular animals have mana, but they can’t really tap into it like humans do. At most, they can shoot short bursts of magic on complete accident. Transformation is… way too hard.”

“So someone turned me into a human?”  _ Then maybe whoever did it erased my memories as well. _

“Would’ve had to be, I think. And it wasn’t even me! I had the spell prepped and everything.” The witch looked dejectedly over to a music stand where a heavy grimoire lay, opened up presumably to the transformation spell. “I’d like to meet whoever did this and sock ‘em in the face.”

“That spell… is a side effect of it possibly losing my memories?”

“Shouldn’t be. At worst, the spell would render you transforming to something somewhere in between human and wolf.” A sly smile crept across her face. “... I kinda wanna try that now.”

“I… I respect your innate curiosity, however, I must decline.” Shuuichi refused, stuttering. Was… was she being serious about that? Or was it a joke? He could never tell with her. Himiko’s expressions were limited at best. Her default was a sort of bored-looking inexpressive face, and it usually only ever changed to a slight pout or a smug smile.

“... Boo. I wanted to try at least, and then you had to be a killjoy.”

“I’m just worried about my wellbeing is all! It has nothing to do with my personal opinion on if the spell would be fun to try out or not!” Which it likely wouldn’t be, at least for him, but he kept that bit to himself. “A-Anyways…! Is there anything we were supposed to be doing today?”

“... I was gonna put the meat away.” Himiko stared blankly at him. “... And that was it.”

“I already put it away last night, when Amami-kun dropped you off here.” He shook his head, his mouth in a straight line. “You shouldn’t leave meat just sitting around like that… it’ll go bad quicker.”

“Hmm… ah. I could let Amami have you for the day so you could get used to life in the town… yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

“You’re just trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?” Shuuichi asked shyly.

“... Yeah, kinda.”

“You really shouldn’t be so blunt!” The familiar could barely contain himself from yelling at her.  “… So, where is he today do you think?”

“Honestly? That guy’s an enigma. He’s probably chatting it up with some girl again. With the way he looks, he kinda attracts a lot of weird girls who want to talk to him.” There was Himiko’s inexpressive face again. Was she disgusted by Rantarou’s habits, or jealous? Shuuichi just couldn’t understand her.

“I… see. I guess I’ll just walk around the marketplace a bit, then.” He walked over to the door to leave, but turned back to look at Himiko. “Is there anything you’ll need while I’m out?”

“Get me some candy or somethin’. The sweet kind, not the sweet-and-sour kind. That stuff is crap.” Himiko waved her hand, though less to say goodbye and more to dismiss him. Shuuichi thought back to Rantarou’s words from the night prior. Someone had to get Himiko to change her ways, right? Well, he doubted he could get her to leave the house for the second day in a row, but he could start small.

“Odd. I didn’t hear anything to go with that request. I suppose I won’t be getting any candy. Or if I do, it’ll be the sweet-and-sour kind. Take the money off the table near the entrance.” He could hear the witch huff loudly. No doubt he probably overstepped a boundary he shouldn’t be so much as toeing on the second day of being a familiar, but it was an anvil that needed to be dropped eventually.

“... Pretty please get me the sweet candy. And if you get the sweet-and-sour… I’ll sear all the fur off your tail with my magic.”

“Thank you for your politeness. … I’m off.” He took the small fishnet bag of money off the table, and shut the door behind him.

* * *

 

Rantarou Amami was a slippery customer. Shuuichi could’ve sworn he’d seen the man at least five times by now, but every time it was a mysterious doppelganger, or someone whose attention he couldn’t get at all. Sighing, he had stopped a short way outside of the marketplace near a large, fenced mansion. The mansion itself didn’t look intimidating, but the fence hadn’t been too well-kept, and certain parts of the mansion itself were a little worse for wear. Still, it seemed to be lived in, with a few select windows opened up for certain rooms, and it seemed like, of all things, the lawn was absent of weeds and looked neatly-trimmed and green. In all honesty, it stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of the building.

Someone tapped his shoulder. Taken aback by the sudden feeling of touch, Shuuichi jumped back, his lips curling in a sort of snarl, ready to transform at any moment. He looked over the person who had tried to get his attention: short yet wild white hair, lines that came down from below the eyes and stopped once they hit the jawline, and a height about the same as his. While this stranger didn’t look hostile, it was a stranger nonetheless. Shuuichi’s guard hadn’t dropped in the slightest, even after he’d come to the conclusion that there was no way this person would attack him in broad daylight through basic reasoning.

“M-My apologies! I seem to have startled you!” The strange person was equally startled, and raised their hands in panic. “I did not intend to do something such as that! Please, do not call the knights!”

“I… I mean, you  _ did _ startle me, but I’d never call the knights for something like that…” Shuuichi’s expression softened somewhat, being a bit more reassured this person wasn’t going to hurt him. “What did you want my attention for in the first place?”

“Ah, that! You were staring at the professor’s mansion for quite some time, so I thought perhaps you were up to something nefarious such as robbery. I only came to give you a warning that I would call the knights if you were planning on such a thing!” The person responded triumphantly. Shuuichi held back an exasperated sigh.

“I promise I wasn’t up to something like that.” He reassured them. “I’m new here, so I was curious about the mansion is all.”

“Oh, that is all? I can show you around inside, if you’d like. You see, I, Kiibo, am a resident of the Iidabashi mansion! Surprised?”

“Really…?” The familiar really only was a bit surprised by this revelation, but it made sense why Kiibo was so diligent about watching the place. “Er, I think I’ll pass. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense! You are clearly curious about the mansion, … uh…” Kiibo seemed to be struggling around finding a name.

“Shuuichi Saihara. Nice to meet you, Kiibo.” He stuck out a hand in greeting (something Rantarou had told him to do when meeting a new person on that night when they walked back from Kaede and Tsumugi’s store).

“Nice to meet you as well, Saihara-kun!” Kiibo shook Shuuichi’s hand, and with a tighter grip and lot more force than he’d initially expected. “Please, follow me. I can give you a brief idea as to what the inside of the mansion looks like, although I’m not certain how much of it I’m allowed to show to you.”

“That’s not a problem. The fact that you’re showing me around is nice enough, Kiibo-kun.” He followed as Kiibo pushed through the main gate and opened the front door, thanking him for holding the door as they entered.

* * *

 

For a moment, Shuuichi just stood a few steps from the entrance, admiring everything about the interior. There was a central marble staircase with potted plants on both sides that split into two facing sets of stairs that lead to a second floor, which was lined with doors. The floor they were standing on had hallways on either side, as well as one behind the staircase itself. Most notably, the mansion itself was  _ white _ and looked incredibly clean. It was a staggering difference from Himiko’s humble one-floor house that didn’t even pretend to be tidy.

“I’ve been told seeing this place for the first time can be shocking.” Kiibo closed the door, and walked up to Shuuichi. “But I think at this point, I am used to it. I personally have always admired the professor’s sense of interior decorating. It is mostly white and black, but I think those colors go together nicely.”

“It’s… definitely a lot.” The wolf had no words for this. The amount of effort one would need to put in the upkeep this place… was something he didn’t even want to think about. Suddenly, he saw one reason why Himiko probably didn’t live in a big house. “You mentioned a professor… are you two the only ones that live in this place!?”

“Oh, no!” Kiibo put his hands on his hips. “While the mansion is owned by the professor, and I take up residence, there is third person! She is the professor’s apprentice, you see.”

“Only three people…”  _ I can’t help but feel like such a large residence for only three people is a bit wasteful. _

“Yes, though I believe the professor has stepped out on some business. I wonder if we can find his apprentice anywhere.”

“Would that be her?” Shuuichi pointed at the girl scowling at them from the top of the central staircase. He didn’t know why she would be scowling… was she in a bad mood?

“Oh, yes, that would be.” Kiibo looked up at the girl and smiled. “Hello, Iruma-san!”  _ Why isn’t Kiibo-kun at all bothered by her expression? Is this a normal for her? _

“Pfft, as  _ if _ I’m on the same level as some shitty apprentice.” The girl turned her head and spat. “Not only do I have damn good looks, I’m a fucking genius! Iidabashi’s lucky to have someone like me working for him!”

“I apologize. She’s usually like this. Please excuse her rudeness.”

“Can it, tin can!” The girl barked as she walked down the stairs. “Huh? Who the fuck’s the kid? One of your dumbass acquaintances or what?”

“Oh, this is Saihara-kun! Shuuichi Saihara-kun! He was curious about the interior of the mansion, so I wanted to show him around a bit!” Kiibo may have sounded innocuous, but Shuuichi could sense a lecture coming from the girl the second he stopped speaking.

“What the hell? So you just suddenly let some random little shit on the side of the road into Iidabashi’s sweetass mansion because he wants to see what it looks like from the inside!? Were you born yesterday, shithead!? It’s private fucking property for a reason! No one can just waltz in here because they damn well feel like it!”

“I-It was going to be brief!!”  
“It doesn’t matter, dumbass! You already let it happen, and that’s the biggest problem! Hurry up and send his ass back out on the street!”

“Um, if I may,” Finally, Shuuichi tried to speak up. “Please don’t get mad at Kiibo-kun… I was the one who was curious. I don’t mind if you kick me back out on the street, since I--”

“Well shit, how nicely things work out sometimes. We were planning on doing it anyway.”

“ _ Really _ don’t mind,” He was losing patience with this girl quick, however. “Since the mansion wasn’t really my goal. I thank you for letting me look inside though, Kiibo-kun and…”

“Seriously, you don’t know my name?” The girl’s face was a mixture of disgust and confusion.

“You… didn’t introduce yourself.”

“How fucking idiotic! You  _ should _ already know my name, Shittyhara! Well, in any case, you better listen up, ‘cause this is the only time I’m doing it for you, limp dick!” Mentally, Shuuichi noted he would not respond to any of the girl’s insults. “I’m Miu fucking Iruma! Gorgeous girl genius, assistant to the great Professor Iidabashi, part-time upkeeper of Kiiboy here.”

“Kii _ bo _ . The professor gave me that name for a reason.”

“And  _ you _ should be referring to me as Iruma- _ sama _ , considering all the new abilities I’ve given you that the professor couldn’t even dream of if he was high.” Miu snarked back. “But hey, we can’t always have what we want. Soooo, hurry up and kick him out already, mister. I wanna go back to taking a nap, and you’re only getting in the way.” Kiibo exhaled, though it was a weird sounding exhale, like he was going through the motions but no air was leaving his body.

“Sorry… as much as I would like to show you the Iidabashi mansion, she  _ does _ have a point. I will be showing you the way out.” He turned to Shuuichi, his face apologetic.

“Don’t worry about it, Kiibo-kun,” Shuuichi laughed sheepishly as he went to exit the mansion. “It’s not your fault.”

* * *

 

The familiar had waved Kiibo goodbye as he exited the mansion and made his way back to the busy marketplace in search of Rantarou. He knew as someone who had spent less than a few days in a human’s world he shouldn’t have suspicions about people as strong as his were, but he couldn’t help it. His inquisitive nature was a cornerstone of his character, or perhaps a curse, as it could sometimes lead his train of thought down a darker path. Kiibo was the current focus of his thoughts. The boy hadn’t really appeared to be human. From his odd exhale to the weird lines on his face to the fact that he didn’t seem to have a last name, alarm bells had definitely been set off at this point. Despite not being human, Kiibo didn’t appear to be malicious, especially since the professor had likely given him residence at the mansion in the first place (and someone with a title like “professor” probably had to be pretty keen on these things).

Wait, that girl… Miu Iruma, she said her name was, had mentioned upkeep and giving Kiibo new abilities. That was a peculiar point she brought up. This essentially confirmed Kiibo not being human, but it implied that he was an artificial human of sorts as well, since he wasn’t responsible for his own “upkeep” (which was interesting word choice to begin with). … Shuichi, however, wasn’t all too well-versed in these kinds of things, so by circumstance, he’d have to leave his curiosity there. He needed to focus on finding the elusive Rantarou Amami in any case; he could always ponder Kiibo’s case later. He had picked up on how Rantarou’s footsteps sounded yesterday, but the overload of noise in the marketplace made it difficult to focus on individual sounds like that, so he’d likely have to rely on his sight. As he was making another trek through the midday marketplace, he noticed a familiar stand.

“Oh, you! You’re the boy from yesterday who was talking to Rantarou!” Angie waved to him, and beckoned him to come closer. “Angie can’t remember if we introduced ourselves properly.”

“I don’t believe we did.” Shuuichi approached the stand and nodded. “Shuuichi Saihara. … I believe your name was Angie Yonaga-san, if I recall correctly.”

“You do! You’re very smart!” Angie clasped her hands together and smiled. “You’re a new face, huuuh? Angie sees that girl sometimes, but never you! Are you her boyfriend?”

“Ah--! No, no, nothing of the sort!” The boy furiously denied the statement, shaking his open palms at her. “I’m… I suppose you could say I’m learning magic from her?” It seemed really unfitting, that he was the apprentice and Himiko was the mentor, but that  _ was _ how things were, for the most part anyways. He could still lecture her on her bad habits in the meantime.

“Ah, I see, I see…” Angie’s back relaxed as she leaned over the stand, her head resting in her hands. “Angie’s pretty good with magic too, so if there’s anything that girl can’t teach you, let Angie help you!”

“You… use magic?” She hadn’t exactly appeared to be the kind of girl who he expected to use magic, although he supposed that his only manner of reference was Himiko and her manner of dress, which was a telltale sign she was a witch.

“Angie is what the people around here call a cleric!”

“I feel embarrassed to ask, but what kind of magic does that entail exactly?”

“Mostly healing magic, though Angie does some white magic on the side. White magic is the purest kind of magic, you know? It’s usually used to vanquish unholy spirits and demons!” The girl nodded at him cheerfully as she explained.

“You said you were a cleric though, right? That makes you at least somewhat religious as well, doesn’t it?” Shuuichi had a basic understanding of religion at this point in time. Apparently there were many, though some were so prominent and others were so scarce that you only really had to learn a few, or so it had been explained to him.

“Well, Angie subscribes to the religion of the island where she’s from! Angie believes in a single, all-powerful god who works in mysterious ways! Of course, some things are required from the followers to keep Angie’s god happy as well, but the people back on the island said that they got Angie covered.”

“These ‘things’ to keep your god happy… what do they include?” His first guess would be prayer, but he was interested in understanding this girl’s religion. After all, it was the religion of her island, so it was surely much rarer than others.

“Oh, prayer,”  _ As I thought. _ “Offerings…”  _ Not the first idea that came to mind, but it makes sense. _ “Aaaaand… blood sacrifices, sometimes!”

“W-What!?” Suddenly, Shuuichi felt very unsafe around this girl.

“Mhmm! It’s a daily thing on the island. Again, though, Angie’s island said they would have it covered, so that Angie would be protected in her journey to the more modern world! Though of course, if you’re willing to give a bit of your blood, Angie’s god could always use a little--”

“No, I’m good, thank you very much!!”

“Awww, okay. If you’re ever up for it, Angie’s always here! Oh, unless it’s dark outside or raining, though. Angie’s usually home by then.”

“Do you live alone…?” Quickly, he realized how intrusive the question was, not to mention odd. “Just because you said you came from your island, is all.”

“Indeed! Angie’s island really is a short boat ride away from the outskirts of town, you see. But, Angie has a house here too that she stays the night at! Once every week, Angie takes a boat back to the island, says ‘hello’ to everyone, and receives some of their harvest.  _ Then _ Angie says ‘bye-onara’, and comes back here to sell everything! Oh, and the villagers back on Angie’s island of course get their shares in profit!”

“That’s… really kind of you.” He smiled at her, his expression losing the tension it had gained from earlier. “I take it out here there’s a wider market?”

“Yes, and…” Angie leaned over the stand to whisper something in Shuuichi’s ear. “You can also sell it for more profit. That way the villagers make eeeeeven more! It’s all thanks to god’s miracles that people are much looser with their money when it comes to fresh fruit around here!”

“H-Huh.” Well, that was a way to refer to your own customers, that was for sure. Still, he admired that Angie did this all for the people back on her island. He himself yearned for a strong bond like that with others, but he didn’t have that with… anyone. His memories weren’t intact, so even if such people existed in his life beforehand, they were gone. Just simply…  _ gone _ . Surely he could forge new ones, but the idea of leaving his past completely behind would haunt him ever-so-slightly.

“Shuuichi, is something wrong? You look a little out of it.” He could hear the concern in her voice. Time to do what he did best in these kinds of situations: shrug it off entirely.

“No, I’m fine, thank you for your concern.” Shuuichi shook his head and smiled fairly convincingly. “Sorry to change the topic of conversation so suddenly, but I was actually looking for Amami-kun. Have you seen him around today?”

“Hmm, Rantarou’s gone off somewhere, but Angie saw him today earlier! He was buying some bread and candy.”

“I see. Uh, thank you.  I wanted to meet up with him today, so I’ve been looking for him for a while.” He bowed to the girl and waved goodbye as he went to explore the rest of the marketplace.

“Aw, drat.” Angie said to herself as she waved back. “I forgot to ask him if Angie could paint his portrait. Oh well! Angie believes that God will link us back together again somehow!”

* * *

 

_ A candy stand or a bread stand _ . Shuuichi carefully eyed each of the stands he passed in the ever-bustling marketplace.  _ I hope I don’t look like a potential customer, with how hard I’m eyeing everything, _ He was so focused on the task that he didn’t even notice someone following him until it was far too late.

“Boo!” Two hands jabbed at him into his sides, causing him to instinctively jump into someone in front of him, clutching his sides, and turning to look at just who the hell did that. “Gotcha! You weren’t looking at aaaaaall!”

His assailant was a short boy (which was saying something, because he himself wasn’t that tall either) with stringy black hair and a cheeky smile. The boy, looking proud of himself, folded his arms behind his head, still grinning. “You should apologize to that guy. You almost took him out, nishishi!”

“Shouldn’t  _ you _ be the one apologizing?  _ You’re _ the one who poked me in the sides!” Shuuichi was already not a fan of this kid. “You shouldn’t do that kind of thing to people you don’t even know.”

“And  _ you _ have no right to lecture someone your same age.  _ I _ don’t lecture you about  _ your _ problems.” Okay, this conversation was going nowhere. At this rate, he’d be talking in circles with this boy for the rest of the day.

“Listen. All I’m asking is that you don’t do that again to anyone.” It’s a simple request, but he can sense the rebelliousness and capriciousness inside the boy. Who knows if he’s even listening at all.

“Okay! Only if you buy me some candy, though!” He points at a stand a bit of distance away from where they were standing. “I want the grape-flavoured kind, the sweet and sour kind, and the super sugary kind! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!?”

“I don’t have any money to spare.” He literally only had enough gold for the one bag of candy he was going to buy for Himiko on his person. “... You can have a little bit of the candy I’m gonna buy, but it’s not for you, okay?”

“Wooooow, you’re the best!” The boy smiled, and pushed Shuuichi up to the merchant at the candy stand.

“You don’t have to push me…” Shuuichi scowled at the boy before turning to the merchant. “Excuse me, could I have some of the sweet candy…? Uh, the soft kind is fine.” Why there were so many types of candy in the first place was a mystery to him. Still, the merchant seemed to get the idea and took down a bag that was on a back shelf for display. She put the bag of candy on the front table and looked at him expectantly.

“R-Right, sorry.” The familiar began to dig around in his clothes’ pockets, but could not find the money. “I… I swear I had some somewhere…!” Suddenly, the smaller boy pushed him out of the way, brandishing a small fishnet sack of coins.

“I’d like to buy that bag candy, since that guy’s being a slowpoke!” He put the coins on the counter and snatched up the bag. “You can keep the change, miss!” Suddenly, a realization dawned of Shuuichi.  _ Those were mine! Those were what Yumeno-san gave to me! _

“Hey, you--!” He lunged to grab the boy by the shoulder, but the boy carelessly dodged him, causing Shuuichi to fall over. Though the merchant was surprised by the speed of the transaction, she nodded and smiled at the smaller boy, realizing he’d given her more than enough money to work with. The smaller boy then legged it out of the marketplace, and disappeared into an alleyway. Slowly, Shuuichi slowly tried to stand up. He’d been conned, robbed. He couldn’t have possibly felt worse than at this very moment.

“Hey, Saihara-kun, are you okay?!” A familiar voice asked, getting closer with every word. He felt a hand grab his own to help him stand. “What happened?”

“I think I was just robbed.” He knew it was Rantarou speaking to him, but he didn’t make eye-contact. With thanks to the green-haired boy’s strength, he managed to completely stand up, and wiped the dirt off his pants. “Thank you…”

“Seriously… and here I thought you were too keen to be robbed.” Rantarou huffed. “Oh, I’m not mad at you. I’m just mad at whoever used whatever sweet-talking skills they had to rob you. Did you get a good look at their face? We can always go to the knights and get them to draw a wanted poster.”

“I… I did.” What would be the point, though? The money had already been spent, and there was no way they could catch the boy before he could stick his hands in the candy (which would be the only way that everyone would get a proper refund in this trade).  _ Still, I suppose we could prevent future people from getting conned. _ “Still, that money was Yumeno-san’s… she gave it to me to buy her something.”

“She probably won’t be too mad, considering you got robbed. I’m sure she’s been cheated out of a pretty sum of money once in her life before too.”

“Yeah…” Shuuichi said, defeated.

“You seem down.” Rantarou smiled sympathetically. “Hear me out: there’s a preliminary round for the huge three-man brawl tournament later today. I happen have tickets to such a thing that I intended to raffle off, but seeing as how you could use a little pick-me-up, they’re free.”

“W… Seriously, you don’t have to give me any of that stuff--”

“Nonsense! It’s more fun seeing this stuff with a friend, anyway. Besides, I bought way too much bread and candy for just myself. Tell you what, we bring Yumeno-san along too, and say you bought the candy. Win-win, no?”

“I…” He couldn’t believe Rantarou right now. What he said was too good to be true. “... I’ll go, then. And we’ll go get Yumeno-san too.”

“Right, right, I told you! … Though honestly, Saihara-kun, don’t feel too bad about it. We’ve all trusted the wrong people once or twice in our lives.”

“You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.” Shuuichi mused.

“I am.”

* * *

 

“I hate this place.” Ryouma spat, climbing up the old stone stairs. It didn’t help that this place was stuffy and torch-lit, with no actual windows anywhere to be seen. “It always gives me incredibly bad vibes.”

“We’ll be in and out of here as quickly as possible. Believe me, I don’t want to be in here anymore than you do.” Although, Kirumi’s reasons were a bit different. This place had accumulated a downright disgusting amount of dust and cobwebs (while she had an affinity for spiders, she couldn’t refute the fact that abandoned cobwebs made any place look unsightly). Ryouma stumbled a bit on a loose stone, and while Kirumi immediately reached out to catch his hand, he somehow managed to jump and land completely fine.

“Guess I still got it.” Ryouma said calmly, as if he wasn’t at all bothered by what just happened.

“Please be a bit more careful, Hoshi-kun.” She pulled her hand back and wiped it on her dress. She’d have to wash these clothes later. “I do believe we’re almost there, though.”

“I sure hope we are. If I were human, I’d barely be able to see where I was going.” Though the kitsune couldn’t see his face, she was certain he’d be grimacing. It seemed she was right however, since finally the floor leveled out. “I don’t see why we have to meet in this dungeon.” He gave a soft chuckle.

“Supposedly it is just that. This place is an abandoned dungeon from a war long ago. Obviously, it hasn’t been used in quite a while.”

“Huh. Interesting.” It didn’t really sound like Ryouma was all that interested. “Ouma, if you know what’s good for you, you’d better come out already.”

“Threatening him is a waste of breath.” Kirumi shook her head. “He enjoys it. It’s like a game to him.”

“Toujou-chan is soooooo ruuuuuude to me.” Carrying a torch in one hand and a bag of candy in the other, the boy followed down the stairs right behind them. “I thought you guys would be more punctual, though. Especially considering Toujou-chan’s always good about keeping track of those kinds of things.”

“I told her you had a snowball’s chance in Hell of being even remotely on time, considering your track record, so we killed some time first. And lo and behold, here you are.” Ryouma said all these lines calmly, but Kirumi could sense he was getting increasingly agitated. The boy, looking hurt, slipped behind the bars of the cage the stairs lead down to, sat down on the old wooden bench, and placed the torch in a holder on the wall as he began to open the bag of candy.

“... Well, I can’t blame you!” He finally answered, after a long pause. “I personally had a lot of fun today!”

“Kokichi Ouma-kun, the matter at hand, if I may.” Kirumi’s patience was also tested in these moments she spent with the boy.

“Whoa, my full name!” Kokichi put five or so of the soft candies into his mouth.

“You asked for us to be your eyes and ears on the streets… however, there isn’t exactly much to report in terms of what’s happening. Supposedly the economy’s in a boom, but everything else is relatively the same.”

“Oh, thanks. That explains all the new stands, I guess. Good work! Want a star for a good job!?”

“Cut the crap, Ouma. You know why I’m here and what I want, so get to the point already.”

“Hoshi-kun.”

“Toujou, I appreciate it, I really do. But when’s this maniac gonna tell me what he did to--!”

“Hoshi-chan is so right! I can’t believe I nearly forgot!” Swallowing what was in his mouth, Kokichi lay down on the wooden bench, his head hanging over the end. “Your girlfriend remains fine for another week or so, hooray!” He clapped lightly, smiling at Hoshi. Even upside-down one could see he had quite a sinister expression. “Though if Hoshi-chan wants to lash out at me again, I’m willing to make… amendments to her status.” It seemed Ryouma was on the verge of responding, but bit down on his tongue to keep quiet.

“So, are we to keep watching the streets, then?” This would get Kokichi off the topic of Ryouma’s girlfriend, or so Kirumi hoped.

“Nope! You all have graduated past that step!” The black-haired boy suddenly snapped up and reached for something in his pocket. “I have a series of things I need you to do for me. I’ve spent enough time watching, Toujou-chan, Hoshi-chan. It’s time to make my first move.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, happy new year you all, and i hope you had a nice holiday! this finally concludes introductions of everyone's roles in the story, and hopefully the third chapter will have more plot. this chapter's a little shorter, sorry about that. god, this has definitely re-affirmed my love for fantasy. world-building is fun! i love it.
> 
> apologies for some of the writing of the characters, most specifically angie and miu. they're characters that are pretty basic to write, which i think is why their simplicity throws me off a little. in any case, i'll be updating the character tags since they're all here now.
> 
> again thanks for reading the newest chapter! have a good 2018 my dudes!


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